Assembly Required
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Penny wasn't a mechanic, her ability to put wheels on the Chariot notwithstanding. But she had to do something. Because she could see that her sister was broken...


_A/N_

_So just so you know, when I wrote this, it was not long after seeing episode 2 and nothing else beyond that. So if this clashes with events in ep. 3 or beyond, ignorance is the answer. Not saying that excuses critique, but it's the reason nonetheless._

* * *

**Assembly Required**

The Chariot no longer required assembly, but it certainly needed a paint job.

Penny Robinson paced around the ATV, like a…well, she wasn't sure exactly. Like a what? Art connoisseur? The vehicle wasn't art. Like some car enthusiast examining their beauty? Maybe, but she hadn't built the thing, it had been assembled in an automated factory on Earth, been shipped into orbit, and deposited in the garage of the _Jupiter 2_. Like a wolf encircling a lamb? Maybe…but then, it wasn't like she was going to bite into it. To tear into its throat, kill it in a savage manner, and continue the perpetual cycle of life and death that had begun billions of years ago and-

_No._

Maybe there wasn't a metaphor here. Maybe the Chariot was just an electric ATV that needed a paint job, and that was the end of that. Besides, thinking about wolves and sheep made her hungry – meat had been a luxury on Earth even before the Christmas Star, and so far they hadn't seen any life on this new planet. Also, she'd eaten a bunch of Oreos and wasn't feeling well. So on that note, she stopped thinking about the metaphors and put a finger to one of the dent marks made by the…whatever the heck it was.

_Picasso. I'm definitely Picasso._

Good lord, she was on the metaphors again. Or, if she said "like Picasso," did that mean it was no longer a metaphor but a simile? Yes, she had downloaded a grammar book on her phone, thanks for asking Judy.

"Penny?"

"Gah!"

This was getting weird. Like, weirder than being on a planet with bi-pedal robots that answered only to Will Robinson, and clouds that dropped black diamonds. Because one moment she'd been thinking of her adoptive sister, the next, her adoptive sister had walked down to the garage herself.

"You okay?" Judy asked.

"F…fine," Penny stammered.

"You sure? Looks like you've seen a ghost."

"A ghost? Nah. Just robot aliens and clouds that want to kill us." She looked back at the Chariot. "You know, I was thinking that this might need a paint job but I dunno. Maybe the rugged look suits it. Like, we're on the frontier of space, and we're pioneers, so…I dunno, maybe battered is the new vogue?" She looked back at her sister. "Judy?"

Judy didn't say anything. She wasn't even looking at her sister. What she _was _looking at was a small piece of paper.

"Judy?"

Judy smiled at her, but Penny could tell that it was forced. She turned the paper around to face the middle Robinson child.

"Think you dropped this."

"Didn't drop it, just…chucked it."

"Chucked it?"

Penny grabbed the paper. "New planet dumbass – have to wait a few centuries before I can be guilt tripped into littering."

"Oh sure, sure. Okay then."

Penny scowled and looked at the paper – **SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED**.

_I remember you jackass._

She knew she couldn't blame the engineer on Earth who'd shipped the Chariot up to the _Jupiter _without its wheels being attached. She supposed it made sense in a way, like, if something went wrong, you wouldn't want the Chariot rolling around on the deck. And something had gone wrong. The history of space travel was replete with things going wrong. Murphy wasn't only a bastard, he was a space traveller as well.

_Well, screw you Murphy_. Penny scrunched the paper up and tossed it to a waste bin. _We're still alive._

For now – so far there'd been no contact with any other Jupiter ship. Well, unless she included the doctor that they'd brought on board, but from what little she'd shared, Judy had ascertained that her own Jupiter pod was in just as bad condition.

"So," Penny said, looking back at her sister. "How's the good…Judy?"

Judy didn't answer. She was just looking at the Chariot.

"Judy?"

Her sister raised a hand up to one of the marks the storm had made. It was trembling.

"Judy!"

"Huh?" She withdrew the hand and put it at her side – it was still trembling. "Pardon?"

"I…" Penny took a breath. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." The smile returned, just as forced as ever. "Fine. Absolutely fine."

"Judy-"

"Listen, I should get back upstairs. I think mum's making another to-do list and-"

"Judy!"

Her sister, who'd turned to the garage's exit, returned her gaze to her younger sibling.

"Come on," Penny said. "What's up?"

"Up? Nothing's up?"

"Judy, I know you're my big sister, but that doesn't mean I don't get to ask what's wrong."

"Hey, never said you couldn't. But there's nothing…" She trailed off. Her eyes evaded Penny's, and her hands were tangled up with each other like an octopus. What was more, Penny could see that her sister was trying to steady her breath.

"Listen, I just wanted to say…I'm sorry," Judy said. She began to pace round the front of the ATV. "Like…I shouldn't have made you go out in the Chariot alone. You don't have your licence, and, like, wasn't anything I could do back on the ship, so I might as well have come with you."

"Might have been harder for Smith to fit in that way."

"Yeah, but I should have been driving," Judy said. For a brief moment, she met Penny's eyes, even while she kept walking. "And, like, I should have let you change places in the cockpit rather than letting you do mum's list, and…and I'm sorry you had to operate on mum's leg."

"Hey, you were encased in ice, there's no way you could have done it." Penny smiled. "I mean, it's put me off steak for a bit, but, I mean, there's lamb. And wolves."

"Wolves?"

"Yeah, long story. But, hey, like, no problem."

"Sure," Judy said. She once again met Penny's eyes, however briefly. "No problem." She went to leave. "Anyway, I should go. Got…stuff to do."

"Judy…"

"Glad we could have this conversation."

"Judy, come on, there is a problem."

"Hey, I just apologized and-"

"It's not about that, it's-"

Judy began to walk. She would have made it out if Penny hadn't grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch me!"

And instantly withdrew it, with the hand's owner recoiling. In part from the words. In part from the baggage carried with them.

"Judy…"

"Penny, I've got to-"

"Judy, you're not alright."

"I'm…I'm fine. It's…like, I really don't want to be in the garage right now, and I'm sure there's something I've got to do with the filters, and-"

"It's the ice. Isn't it?"

Judy fell silent. But her eyes told Penny everything she needed to know. For a moment, the younger Robinson sister glanced around.

_This is where it happened, _she reflected. _You came down here to get the power cell, and it's where the ice started to re-form. _She looked back at her sister, who was rubbing her forehead and eyes, like she was tired. Or like she'd just been awoken from a bad dream.

"I'm fine," Judy said. "Really."

"Judy, you're not fine. I could tell that when I went to get you for the Chariot."

"You what?"

"Judy, you…" She trailed off, deciding not to tell her sister about how she'd seen her huddled up before she'd left the _Jupiter 2_. "Have you talked to Doctor Smith? She says she's a psychologist."

"Says?"

Penny shrugged – there was something off about Smith, but if that was a problem, it was one that the Robinsons would have to deal with later. "Just saying you should-"

"Penny, I'm not talking to a shrink."

"Then talk to me!" She grabbed Judy's hands and led her forward down beside the Chariot. Judy was mumbling something but Judy wasn't listening. Her gaze was instead lingering on the window where the paper had once been attached to.

_Some assembly required. _She sat her sister down beside the vehicle. _What do I do with something that's broken?_

Some_one_, not some_thing_ she reminded herself. Not that Judy was making it easy, as she sat there, running her hand across her face and through her hair. Penny glanced at the garage exit, half-hoping for mum or dad to show up. The other half was hoping that they didn't, because they were in this weird phase right now of anger plus pride – anger that their younger daughter (still not licenced to drive) had taken the Chariot out to save them, yet also proud that she'd managed to do it. She squatted down in front of Judy.

"Like I said," Penny whispered. "It's the ice."

Judy said nothing.

"Come on," she said. She took her sister's hands in hers. "Talk to me."

"I…" She looked up at Penny, and she could see that the eldest Robinson child was fighting back tears. "It's…it's like it's still around me. Like…like I can't breathe before it clamps down, and…" She took a breath. "There's these chills, and…and being down here…" She closed her eyes. "God, I'm pathetic."

"Judy, you're not pathetic."

"It's like I can't even walk through this ship before thinking the ice is going to re-appear, and…and that I'm going to suffocate."

"Judy-"

"And I let you go alone – I left mum, dad and Will to die, and…God, I'm just letting you down and-"

"Judy!"

Judy stopped talking as Penny hugged her.

"You're not any of that," she whispered. "You're smart. You're incredible. You're my big, brilliant, annoying sister who's always been there for me and…" She drew back. "Okay, I'm really not good on the compliments thing, but…remember when we were little? When I was at that phase when I'd still have nightmares, but mum and dad said I was too big to sleep in bed with them?"

Judy nodded. "I remember."

"And remember how you'd come in and stay with me? You'd bring Mister Honeynuts in and tell me that you were going to keep me safe."

"Yeah, I remember." She closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths. "Never understood why you had a rabbit called Mister Honeynuts. Like, what do rabbits have to do with honey?"

"I don't know, ask Bumpkin."

"Who?"

"Bumpkin the Bear." Judy stared at her so Penny kept talking. "_Honeynuts and Bumpkin_? The cartoon we watched?"

"Oh yeah. That."

"Yeah. That."

"I seem to recall that you forced me to watch it with you."

"Dunno if I'd say forced, but-"

"Nah." Judy gave her a playful shove. "Forced."

Penny smiled, and more importantly, her sister was smiling too.

"Come on," Penny said. "Up you get." She got to her feet and extended a hand. Judy took it and was pulled up.

"You okay?" Penny asked.

"Yeah. I…thanks." Judy smiled. "Really."

"Sure. Anytime. Well, maybe not anytime, because I didn't bring Mister Honeynuts with me."

"But you brought your phone with you with the Library of Alexandria on it."

"Hey, if mankind's taking to the stars that means taking our culture with us."

"Yeah. Okay." Judy headed for the door again. "But thanks. Really."

"Yeah. Sure. Hey, I still need to read _Moby Dick _to you."

"Maybe…maybe later."

"Sure. Okay."

Penny didn't push it. A shadow had returned over her sister's face, albeit briefly.

"See you round," Judy said.

Penny nodded. She would see her sister around – it was one of the facts of life. Another fact being that one little heart to heart wouldn't be enough to put her sister entirely at ease. One didn't nearly die and stop having panic attacks just because one's little sister talked about anthropomorphic bunnies.

"Assembly required then," she murmured, turning back to the Chariot. She ran a hand across its frame, as Judy had run a finger through her hair all those years ago, in an effort to keep the monsters away. "Assembly required."


End file.
